German War Cemetery Lübeck

The German war cemetery for fallen from the First World War contains also a plot with German war graves from World War I, including a plot with the graves of 320 victims of the bomning of Lübeck on 28/29 March 1942.

Like almost all German cities, Lübeck was bombed by the Allies. The British, led by Arthur Harris opened in the spring of 1942, a new kind of offensive. They shifted tactics of strategic bombing of factories and military targets to destroy city centers. The beautiful cities of Lübeck and Rostock were the first to meet up with this new tactic. Lübeck was deliberately chosen by Harris because of the narrow streets inside the old city centre. This allowed the firebombs to do their work better. The tactic was to blow the roofs of the houses first with explosions and then throw in a second phase incendiary bombs on open houses to create an inferno. 234 Wellington's bombed the city on 29 March 1942 with about 400 tons of bombs, more than 300 Germans lost their lives.

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Source

• Text: Kaj Metz & TracesOfWar.nl
• Photos: TracesOfWar.nl
• BESELER, H., Kriegsschicksale Deutscher Architektur 1/2. Nord und Süd, Panorama Verlag, Wiesbaden, 2000.
• BURGDORFF, S. & HABBE, C., De hemel stond in brand, Het Spectrum, Utrecht, 2004.
• CHORLEY, W.R., RAF Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War, 1942, Ian Allan Publishing, 1998.
• MAX HASTINGS, Bomber Command, Pan Macmillan, London, 1999.
• MIDDLEBROOK, M. & EVERITT, C., The Bomber Command War Diaries, Pen & Sword Books Ltd, Barnsley, 2014.